1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for delivering contents utilized in a video game played on a player terminal, which a player operates, to the player terminal via a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, various so-called role playing games (RPG; that is, a game in which a player plays a role of a character in a world of the game, and accomplishes a predetermined object while enjoying a process that the character grows through various experiences) have been provided. Further, heretofore, various online games delivered to a player terminal via a communication network such as the Internet have been provided. There are some RPGs delivered online among the various RPGs.
There is a demand to utilize a wide variety of items in a game among players who enjoy various games such as a RPG. In order to meet with such a demand, new items usable in various games, such as a RPG, in online games are published on the website as needed. A service to provide the new items to the players with charge or without charge (charge-free) is offered.
Heretofore, an online video game has mostly been played using a household personal computer. Recently, along with the spread of the online video games, various household general-purpose game machines each having a function to connect itself to a communication network have come to market in which a battle is executed between users of the same game machine via the communication network, or game contents corresponding to one game machine can be downloaded from a special site for the one game machine. In general, the game contents used in the household general-purpose game machines cannot be reproduced (or played) in other game machines than the corresponding hardware (game machine). Thus, game machine manufacturers tend to expand services of one's company or to increase one's lineup of more game contents. The game machine manufacturer makes an ingenious plan in order that customers (users) of the game contents of the game machine manufacturer do not flow out (or escape) to other game machines and other game contents for the other game machines.
As part of the ingenious plan, the game machine manufacturer oneself creates a communication network environment relating to the online video games that correspond to its own game machine by forming a platformer oneself, and also creates a mechanism in which a player is matched with an opponent of an online video game or teammates to play together via the communication network, new game contents can be downloaded, or game contents and various items usable in the corresponding game contents are sold at a virtual shop (marketplace) in a portal site with charge (for example, see “Xbox Live Marketplace”, Microsoft Corporation, URL: http://www.xbox.com/ja-JP/live/marketplace/).
In order to cause players to play the same video game for a long time, additional release of new items becomes very effective means to keep the players interested in the video game. However, in the case where the game contents provider itself manages the portal site of the game contents and provides (or delivers) such new items to the players, the players have to access the portal site of the game contents provider that provides the game contents in order to receive provision of the new items. For this reason, in the case where the player has already lost interest in the game contents and thereby has no opportunity to access the portal site, opportunity to spread new items is restricted even though the new items are additionally released, whereby it is impossible to achieve sufficient effects (for example, the effect that the player's interest in the game contents is improved again, or sufficient benefits obtained due to provision of the new items in the case of providing the new items with charge). In addition, access means to obtain the new items is restricted for the player.
Further, in the case where the game machine manufacturer forms a platformer to provide (or deliver) new items, the platformer provides marketplaces each having a function of a virtual shop on the communication network, and provides items usable in the corresponding online video game in addition to a portal site of the online video game that corresponds to the game machine treated by oneself. By providing such a portal site, in the case where information on the new items is posted on a top page of the portal site, the information on provision of the new items can be provided to the players who loses the interest in the game contents without his or her particular intention when the players access other game contents provided by the same platformer or searches information on new game contents. Thus, it is possible to increase opportunity to notify or spread information on the items compared with the case where game contents are provided using a special site for specific game contents.
However, even in the case of using the configuration as described above, a player who does not have great interest in the video game itself may not access the portal site when the player does not play the video game. Thus, it has not been enough to spread information on additional release of new items widely.
Here, since there are a wide variety of items to be utilized in each of video games, it is required that large quantities of data on the wide variety of items have to be shared and synchronize with game contents providers. For this reason, it is difficult to simply increase entities that provide or deliver items (that is, entities that carry out provision or delivery service for the items).